Posts tagged Wolfgang Wagner

I had the opportunity to visit the Meyers House, situated at 1607 Angelus Avenue in Silver Lake as part of the photography work that I was honored to do for the Committee to Save Silver Lake’s Reservoirs (CSSLR)2006 Home Tour scheduled for September 30, 2006. (See related article in the ‘Community News’ Section of this website). Many of the owners of these fabulous homes were kind enough to give me the opportunity to photograph their interiors.For more information about the architect, Raphael Soriano, please refer to my original notes on the Meyers House (the first entry in the ‘Silver Lake Architecture’ page of this website) and additional notes regarding Soriano’s first commission the ‘Lipetz House’ also featured. For more reading on the architect, the excellent book entitled ‘Raphael Soriano’ by Wolfgang Wagner, makes for enjoyable reading. The Meyers House is also featured in Barbara Bestor’s new book ‘Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake’, published by Regan Books, 2006.

Meyers House, 1607 Angelus Avenue, Raphael Soriano, Architect

This lovely home built in 1938 is a classic example of Soriano’s work. He received his architecture degree from the University of Southern California and worked for both Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra before opening his own practice in 1936. Although he designed 150 and built 38 projects during his career, only a handful survive. He moved to Tiburon, CA in 1953 where he designed and built housing for developer Joseph Eichler as well as the IBM Research Laboratory in San Jose.His work is becoming better known since the publication of the book, ‘Raphael Soriano’ by author Wolfgang Wagener. Published by Phaidon, September 2002. Hardcover 224 pages.

*NOTE: There seems to be a bit of confusion about this house. It is listed in ‘An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles’ by David Gebhard & Robert Winter, published by Gibbs Smith, however, the definite book on Soriano’s work, ‘Rapahel Soriano’ by Wolfgang Wagener published by Phaidon Press, lists the Meyers House at 850 Avenue 37 in Los Angeles. Surely there is some explanation for this discrepancy! Did J.A. Meyers have Soriano build two houses for him, one in Silver Lake and one in Eagle Rock? While there is no mention of the Angelus house in Wagener’s book, I was able to obtain a copy of the building permit which verifies the fact that Raphael Soriano did indeed apply for a building permit for 1607 Angelus Avenue for a J.A. Meyers in 1938.

Another view of the interior.

An interior view, demonstrating the intimate relationship between the indoor and outdoor spaces.